Uniondale school superintendent responds to release of state test scores

Every spring, third- through eighth-grade students in New York sit for a series of state-generated exams in English Language Arts and math.

Every student in each grade answers the same questions as every other student in that grade across the state. The purpose is to assess whether students are learning the material in the state curriculum.

But what do these test scores actually reveal?

According to Dr. Monique Darrisaw-Akil, superintendent of the Uniondale school district, the results should not be viewed as if they were college entrance exams. They are not a summation of a student’s potential, but more like a timed lap in a runner’s training.

“State tests are one part of the story,” Darrisaw-Akil said. “We use them to help us assess where students are on their learning journey right now — and to help ourselves think about what we can do to move them to a more proficient place in their journey.”

Matthew Ritter, the district’s assistant superintendent for data, assessment and accountability, detailed what happens when the test scores are released.

“We examine the state test data with the understanding that it’s only one piece of a much richer picture,” Ritter said. “We have other tools that will help us get a much more detailed picture and plan more acutely for student learning. For example, we use i-Ready” — an online assessment program — “to assess students periodically in reading and math throughout the school year.”

Taking reading as an example, Ritter said, “We do an i-Ready assessment in fall, winter and spring, which gives us a picture of student growth across the year in seven different areas of reading, including phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary and comprehension. Teachers use the assessments to help plan their instructions.”

“We also use Fountas and Pinnell for benchmarking reading levels in early grades,” Darrisaw-Akil added, referring to the literacy-focused website for teachers and administrators. “Direct demonstrations of student ability when they produce projects are also important. We are constantly monitoring our students’ progress. We don’t wait for the state tests to tell us how we’re doing.”

Standardized tests, Ritter said, cannot account for the Uniondale district’s linguistic diversity. About 25 percent of the students are English language learners, which may complicate how they perform on standardized tests now, but will eventually become a strength.

“If you imagine a student who is just beginning to learn English in the fourth grade,” Ritter explained, “what the state exam might say about that student doesn’t reflect the power of the student’s eventual bilingualism, which will truly be an asset in the job marketplace.”

“It takes more than three years for a child to learn English,” Mary Bediako, a former math teacher and school administrator with more than 40 years of experience in the area, said. “If I were the state education commissioner, I would make sure that students who are non-English speaking should be in the country at least three to four years before they get tested. But when they’re here for a year and they are included in the test, we are doing them a disservice.”

Darrisaw-Akil also addressed the district’s racial and ethnic diversity.

“Historically there is a gap in standardized test scores between students of color versus white students,” she said. “The equity work we are undertaking is closing the gap, to ensure that when our students leave us, they can compete and collaborate and perform with anybody.”

State test scores, Darrisaw-Akil said, are all too often “weaponized”: misused to sort districts, schools or teachers into categories of “good” or “bad.” These labels obscure the real victories that are being won against tough odds.

“Suppose your family had to move during your school year,” Darrisaw-Akil said. “If you came into class with skills below grade level, and by midyear you’re approaching grade level, that is a huge victory. And we have data to document the genuine growth in our students.”

That growth is what the district promotes, using multiple strategies that don’t stop with elementary school.

“A good number of the success stories here in the district land in the upper grades,” Ritter said. “Many of the assessments in the upper grades are more well-rounded, more performance-based and discipline-specific, like the different Regents exams. Take reading — we have a large number of kids coming out of eighth grade who scored less than proficient on the state tests, but who later score proficient on the English Language Arts Regents.”

Furthermore, Ritter said, the number of Uniondale students taking Advanced Placement courses has risen, as has the number of scholars who achieve the Seal of Biliteracy when they graduate. And more of Uniondale’s graduates are college-bound.

“I stand beside our teachers who deal with different learning groups and unique learning styles every day,” Darrisaw-Akil said. “We will focus on the data, but we also know that we are seeing growth in our students — in attendance rates, behavior, interim measures of progress, and college acceptance rates. We want our schools to shine, but we are really focusing on growth.”